F. Ö. SARI
Table 2.
Evocations of the term “tourist”.
Words Percent
Money (to be gained by the local people) 43%
Entertai nment (opportunity for the respondent to share with)41%
Foreigner (different culture) 21%
Culture (opportunity to learn about) 20%
Hotel 15%
Guest 14%
Sex 5%
minds when subject was “tourist”. Respondents claiming that
the word “tourist” evokes money as the earnings of local people
equalled 43 percent. Following closely, 41 percent of respon-
dents have said that the evocation of word “tourist” is enter-
tainment which means they might get the opportunity to share
it with tourists. A total of 21 percent of the respondents claimed
that the word “tourist” associates with foreigner who comes
from a different country and culture, while 20 percent claimed
culture which contains the hope of learning about those cul-
tures. A total of 15 percent of the respondents have stated that
word “tourist” evokes hotel, while 14 percent claimed guest
and 5 percent claimed sex. These numbers point out that the
majority of current research participants perceive tourists as the
source of economical and social benefits more than they see the
tourists as guests.
Feelings and T houghts about “Tourists”
Another open ended question of this research was related to
the respondents’ feelings and thoughts about tourists. Findings
expose that most of these young Turkish people have positive
feelings and attitudes towards tourists, as can be gained from
selected sentences from the interviews (below).
Interviewer: “Can you express any of your ‘inner thoughts’
of how you feel about foreign tourists here?”
20 year old, male, Computer Programming student: “I am
proud of that the tourists wonder about my country and they
visit it.”
22 year old, male, Industrial Engineering student: “I be-
lieve that it is necessary to respect tourists a little more in our
country. There are a lot of tourists feeling harassed outside their
hotels, so they choose to stay in the borders of accommodation
facilities.”
20 year old, female, Public Relations student: “In the era
that tourism sector keeps growing, it is important to respect
tourists. Every single tourist that we interact culturally adds
something to us.”
20 year old, female, Computer Engineering student: “Tour-
ists are special guests in our country. We should introduce our
history, culture, food and all the other unique characteristics to
them. People should try to understand tourists and not misbe-
have.”
As it was specified in preceding paragraphs, hospitality is
one of the cornerstones of Turkish culture. Majority of Turkish
people feel bound to honor guests in the best possible manner
and try strongly to communicate that (enjoyturkey.com, 2011).
Hazel Tucker stated that the people of Goreme, a central Ana-
tolian town in the region of Cappadocia, take pride in present-
ing a culture of warm hospitality. The concepts of hospitality to
encourage guests are central to the villagers’ discourses re-
garding themselves, their lives and tourism. Traditional hospi-
tality concept is associated with pride which is another signifi-
cant characteristic of Turkish people and guests to any Turkish
village must be treated with the utmost respect and generosity
(Tucker, 2003: p. 122).
20 year old, female, Tourism Management student: “Tour-
ists are people who would like to be distant from the place they
live for a certain period of time, and would simply like to have
a good time, to relax or to rest. Because they pay in return for
the services provided, they always expect more and more…
Unfortunately, some tourists behave as if they had purchased
the personnel of the accommodation, catering, entertainment or
other facilities, as well. Such an approach can really make you
lose your patience.”
“Pride” having vital importance is another inherent feature of
Turkish society. They are sensitive to the concept of “Respect”
as the respondents stated above. When they realize that par-
ticular tourists misbehave or behave disrespectfully, their reac-
tion could be stiff because such attitudes would be perceived as
undignified. The tourists’ position as guests in relation to lo-
cals’ hospitality can be confusing for both players. Situations
often arise in which tourists feel confused about offers of gen-
erosity and friendship in the tourism realm, or where they feel
trapped and restricted by the obligatory ties created by their
hosts. Similarly, the locals increasingly feel that their hospital-
ity is abused and eroded by tourists (Tucker, 2003: p. 135).
22 year old, mal e, Busine ss Ad ministratio n studen t: “When
tourist and tourism is the discussion subject, I directly think
about their contribution to the national economy. In order to
increase their contribution, tourists’ needs and wants should be
satisfied in the best possible way. Besides, our people should be
trained and public awareness of tourism and the tourist must be
raised.”
Conclusion
Tourism industry is established on a web of interactions be-
tween locals, providers, tourism services, the tourist, and the
natural environment (Kozak, 2006). This kind of interaction-
web is usually denser between younger locals and tourists, so it
becomes obvious that their attitude toward the word “tourist”
has a vital importance. This study seeks an insight whether
young Turkish people sustain the notion of traditional “Turkish
Hospitality” by seeking inputs based on their perceptions of
tourists.
Although the Turkish university students participated in this
research considered tourists as a source of income, they also
regarded tourists as fun-loving people coming from foreign
countries and different cultures, recognising they stay in hotels
as valuable, paying guests for a period of time. The occurrence
of the word “Guest” was less frequent than expected: in the
light of traditional Turkish Hospitality and family structure it
was anticipated that respondents would see tourists as guests in
the first place. However, it is pleasing to observe that “Hospi-
tality” and “Guest” notions haven’t been entirely faded away.
The issue of hospitality has long been important to the Turk-
ish psyche and sense of identity: it has been deeply rooted in
Turkish culture and has survived throughout history. Turkey, as
a macro tourism destination, should take all the precautions
necessary in order to turn this inestimable quality of Turkish
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